Sea cucumber is one of the only food that I have only tried once and refuse to ever eat again. I tried it at a Korean family BBQ while stationed in Korea and the texture and taste were just offensive, like some half congealed sea water jello shooter. The Koreans seemed to be most interested in it's digestive tract which was eaten raw with no condiment.

At that same BBQ I ate conch, dog, whole baby octopus, and sea snake. All delicious to different degrees, but that nasty sea cucumber almost ruined the whole thing. Blech.

I've eaten sea cucumber in a Chinese in a dish called "Seafood Medley", or as the menu described it "a medley of seafood". There were a lot of unknown things in there. I was already eating it, when I asked the waitress what was in it. She said, Shrimp, squid, sea cucumber....". The shrimp and little squid I could figure out on my own, but, the rest I really couldn't identify. After the sea cucumber, the language became apparent and I couldn't understand the rest of the list. I realized she was doing her best and I smiled and nodded,and finished my lunch. So I may have eaten some other exotic stuff.

One time we were in a Chinese restaurant with a large party. They had sea cucumber on the menu and we wanted to add it to the order. Over the objections of some of our party, we decided to try it, went something like this...

ME: And we'll have an order of sea cucumber.WAITER (putting his hands on his hips): Are you sure you want that?ME: Sure, why do you ask?WAITER: Well, most people order it and decide they don't want it.ME: Why does it taste bad?WAITER: It tastes just fine, it's just that it's ugly.

Well it came and he was right, it was ugly. Black and slimy. As near as I can tell, it had no real taste at all but what they describe as a "marvelous texture." Any taste I discerned appears to have come from the sauce it was in.

rnatalie:One time we were in a Chinese restaurant with a large party. They had sea cucumber on the menu and we wanted to add it to the order. Over the objections of some of our party, we decided to try it, went something like this...

ME: And we'll have an order of sea cucumber.WAITER (putting his hands on his hips): Are you sure you want that?ME: Sure, why do you ask?WAITER: Well, most people order it and decide they don't want it.ME: Why does it taste bad?WAITER: It tastes just fine, it's just that it's ugly.

Well it came and he was right, it was ugly. Black and slimy. As near as I can tell, it had no real taste at all but what they describe as a "marvelous texture." Any taste I discerned appears to have come from the sauce it was in.

I've enjoyed jellyfish salad and the texture was amazing, but the only flavors were salt and sesame oil.